The most recent massive live event for Fortnite has ended, and it was bizarre even by the game’s own standards. Fortnite’s Chapter 3 farewell event, branded “Fracture,” has concluded, and the game has been taken offline until December 4th, when the next chapter will be released with a whole new island and characters like the witcher Geralt of Rivia.

Before the action began, the participants waited in small groups on floaty islands with nothing to do but watch a countdown on a TV screen. (While I roasted marshmallows, my three players spoke together.) A cinematic then ensued in which The Herald, a newer character in Fortnite, led an onslaught of tornadoes, and after some battle, a giant chrome version of her arrived, causing the entire island to explode into many, many pieces.

Then, after being told that “home is gone,” gamers floated through space among shards of the shattered island and each other before the Zero Point, a sort of superpowered energy source in Fortnite legend, lassoed them all together. Then, for unknown reasons, everyone had to work together to gather energy orbs to power the Zero Point.

This Fortnite event was a bit more low-key than previous ones, which included battles against Galactus or spectacular alien invasions. Sometimes it just seemed like filling time. To charge up the Zero Point, players had to do basic things like make a snowman or identify objects that matched. In addition, they might interact with a few NPCs for simple objectives and relive brief memories from prior events, such as the mech vs. kaiju combat or the rolling cube. More pieces of the demolished island would materialise as the gateway gained strength.

After the Zero Point was activated, the action changed to a new sequence in which Brie Larson’s Fortnite character, Paradigm, arrived to see an island grow.

It lasted around 45 minutes and didn’t have the excitement of previous events. (But like its forerunners, it meant nothing at all if you weren’t familiar with Fortnite’s larger story.) For the time being, signing in does little more than show the player a loading screen with a view of the new island in the backdrop. But don’t worry, since on December 4th, Chapter 4 will be released, and the splash screen already features a number of upcoming characters, including the Doom Slayer and Geralt. Dirt bikes are also hinted about in the artwork.